New hope for UP hockey players
Youngsters in remote areas to benefit with this new concept
Home to the land of hockey legends like major Dhyan Chand and Kunwar Digvijai Singh ‘Babu,’ Uttar Pradesh (UP) lags behind in terms of producing another world class player in this field. Reason: Many talented players in remote areas of the state do not even get an adequate platform to showcase their skill/ expertise.
With an aim to rectify the situation, Uttar Pradesh Hockey has decided to conduct five-a-side hockey tournament ‘Hockey 5’ at the state-level as part of Hockey India’s pilot initiative. The event would be organised at 6-7 places in the state, and soon the venues (grassy turfs) for this would be selected.
Other than the UP, Hockey India has also launched Hockey 5 in other states/institutes like Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab and Association of Indian Universities. Soon two representatives of Hockey India Manoj Bhore and Ashfaque Allah Khan are due to visit the state capital to discuss the modalities of the event with the UP Hockey bosses.
“There is no dearth of talent in the state, but everyone getting an equal opportunity to showcase their skills at a higher level is quite difficult. But through this event, we can spot talent and encourage them to sharpen their skills by playing at the state, national and even international level as Federation of International Hockey has already launched the Hockley5’s concept,” UP Hockey secretary RP Singh told HT on Wednesday.
“This new concept is a plan to spot the talent at the grassroots level, and I believe it will raise people’s interests in the game,” added Singh, who also happens to be one of the selectors of the Indian squads at the Hockey India.
It is learnt that FIH had conducted a trial of the Hockey 5 games for the first time in 2013 by organising a tournament in Hong Kong on the Easter weekend which saw participation of top 25 international players from Australia, Europe and Asia Pacific.
The matches are exciting to watch. Fast, furious and demanding on the players’ fitness on a slightly smaller pitch as compared to the regular size used for trials. “Hockey played with 11 players on a full size outdoor field will continue to be the main focus of the sport with Indoor Hockey as an alternative version of the game closely linked to the outdoor version,” the rules state.